Photo courtesy of Festival Opera |
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Leonard Bernstein: Candide Mercury Opera Rochester’s semi-staged performance of Candide will be performed under the baton of Artistic Advisor Gerard Floriano with orchestra on May 6th and 8th in the Hochstein Performance Hall. An operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, the text is based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. First performed in 1956, the original libretto was written by Lillian Hellman, but since 1974 it has been generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler which is more faithful to Voltaire's novel. The primary lyricist is the poet Richard Wilbur. Although unsuccessful at its premiere, Candide has now overcome its initial unenthusiastic reaction and achieved enormous popularity, somewhat due to the enormously popular and recognizable overture and the familiar soprano aria “Glitter and Be Gay.” Mercury Opera Rochester will perform the Chelsea Version, which ran on Broadway for two years in the mid-1970’s. The Overture to Candide earned a place in the orchestra repertoire shortly after the operetta premiered in 1956. After a successful first concert performance on January 26, 1957, by the New York Philharmonic under the composer's baton, it quickly became popular and was performed by nearly 100 other orchestras within the next two years. Since that time, it has become one of the most frequently performed orchestral compositions by a 20th century American composer. |
